California State Worker Charged With Hate Crime For Throwing Coffee On Muslim Man

Denise Slader was charged with a hate crime following the Dec. 6 incident.

A Bay Area state worker has been charged with a hate crime after she threw coffee on a Muslim man during a prayer service earlier this month.

According to The Los Angeles Times, prosecutors identified Denise Slader as a California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation employee. Slader came into contact with Rasheed Albeshari and two of his friends at a park on Dec. 6.

The 31-year-old was praying with his friends at Lake Chabot when Slader began harassing them. Albeshari pulled out his phone to record the encounter.

Slader was recorded saying, “The people you tortured are going to be in eternity and heaven. You are very deceived by Satan. Your mind has been taken over, brainwashed and you have nothing but hate.”

The video shows an East Bay Regional Park District ranger approaching Slader and telling her she was acting inappropriately. As Slader and Albeshari exchanged words over the cellphone camera, she reached over and struck him, district spokesman Carolyn Jones said. After hitting him, Slader threw coffee on him, Jones said. Albeshari is listed as the victim in the complaint.

Slader was charged Wednesday with misdemeanor counts of battery and committing a hate crime. After the video was uploaded to Facebook, it went viral and Albeshari received an overwhelming amount of support.

Jones called the viral video appalling.The Department of Corrections is currently reviewing Slader’s actions.